Merkel: Euro debt crisis will last 5 years or more

German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles during a press conference after an energy summit at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the country's 16 state governors and various ministers to coordinate the country's energy transition from nuc

/ AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles during a press conference after an energy summit at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the country's 16 state governors and various ministers to coordinate the country's energy transition from nuclear to renewable power sources within a decade. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles during a press conference after an energy summit at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the country's 16 state governors and various ministers to coordinate the country's energy transition from nuclear to renewable power sources within a decade. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) (/ AP)

The Associated Press

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Europe's sovereign debt crisis will last at least five more years.

Merkel says the continent is on the right path to overcome the crisis but "whoever thinks this can be fixed in one or two years is wrong."

Two years ago some heavily indebted European countries were dragged into the turmoil that first gripped global financial markets in 2007.

Greece in particular has been struggling with the austerity conditions imposed on it by countries such as Germany.

But Merkel told a regional meeting of her Christian Democratic Party on Saturday that the time had come for "a bit of strictness."

Otherwise, she says, Europe won't be able to attract international investment.